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PODCAST

Animal Magic

Good-Natured Comedy about Animal Folklore, Biblical Silliness, and the Artificial Primate Habitat I call Home. What can ancient Animal Myths and Fables tell us about how to be Human in modern life? SNODGRASS is a college teacher, public speaker, and the author of Shakespeare’s Goddess, Genesis and the Rise of Civilization, and Chaos Chaos. More info at j-snodgrass.com

comedy pets & animals

All Episodes

20:33

The Labyrinth (Ancient Symbol and a Greek Horror...

Animal Magic ·

2026/10/02

An Exploration of the Labyrinth from Many Angles: Prehistoric Fertility Symbol, Greek Monster-Myth, Medieval Pilgrimage and Modern Meditation. What were the Mysterious Ruins on the Island of Crete? And what does all this have to do with a young person's first heartbreak? By the Author of "Romancing the Minotaur: Sex and Sacrifice and some Greek Mythology."

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29:02

Shakespeare's Shapeshifters: Bottom's Dream, Puck and...

Animal Magic ·

2026/09/02

For this special episode I'm joined again by Mason Winfield, Western New York's Premier Paranormalist, to discuss Shakespearean faerie-lore, Bottom's Dream in Midsummer Night's Dream, and some differences between Puck and Ariel. This fall, Mason Winfield and I will be leading Haunted History Ghost Walks in Buffalo and East Aurora.

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14:42

Birds of a Feather

Animal Magic ·

2026/08/03

Recently someone told me some really incredible stories about her personal encounters with birds, and it got me wondering... What is a "bird"? How did this whole bird thing get started? Is it really true that birds with the same feathers flock better together?

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14:19

Stonehenge (Summer Special)

Animal Magic ·

2026/07/03

In this Special Summer Episode... What else? The Mystery of Stonehenge. Shocking New Truths, which have lain Dormant for Decades in Dull, Dusty Archaeology Textbooks...Revealed!

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14:33

The Hydra

Animal Magic ·

2026/05/27

Was it a plant, animal, mineral? Maybe a coven or a nunnery? In this special episode, we explore the Greek Myth of Heracles and the Hydra, and some fascinating theories on how this story came about. But first, a few thoughts on how mythical creatures develop through storytelling.

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12:05

Demeter's Daughters in the Underworld

Animal Magic ·

2026/05/13

How might the ancient myth of Persephone's abduction have originated? And what lessons could we learn from it today? (Note: This episode didn't turn out to be very funny, so if you're unfamiliar with "Animal Magic" I recommend starting with something else. But for regular listeners I hope this will be an interesting addition to the series.)

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24:12

Shakespeare's Shapeshifters: Falstaff, Puck, and the...

Animal Magic ·

2026/04/22

To celebrate Shakespeare's Birthday, I'm joined by Mason Winfield, Western New York's Premier Paranormalist, to discuss Shakespearean faerie-lore, Falstaff's downfall in the Merry Wives of Windsor, and how it relates to the Classical Myth of Actaeon and Diana, and Sir James Frazer's book The Golden Bough.

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16:23

Something Else About Elephants

Animal Magic ·

2026/03/09

Are Elephants made of Milk? Or Eggs? Or both? And why don't they have wings anymore? How did Ganesha get his Distinctive Look? In this Episode, we'll search the Scriptures of India for Answers you can't find in a Biology Textbook.

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13:21

Something About Elephants

Animal Magic ·

2026/02/11

Even after centuries of zoology, the Elephant remains defiantly mythical. In this episode, we'll explore some Classical Roman and Christian beliefs about this gentle giant.

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21:44

Hardware

Animal Magic ·

2026/01/30

My car and my phone get along so well that I feel like a third wheel, and I often feel like they'd be happier without me. Am I an obstacle that the tools have to work around? I recently found this live recording of "Hardware" from 2021. Some things I said about hardware and software in 2021 now sound outdated, but the main message still comes through, and this is one of my favorites of all of these I've written. Special thanks to the one person who kept laughing while I was saying this.

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14:23

The Boar's Head (A Creepy Cincinnati Christmas...

Animal Magic ·

2025/12/15

In this Very Special Holiday Episode, we'll Share Something Happily Forgotten, a Christmas Mystery long buried in the snow of the past. We'll also wonder why Pigs are the baddest animals in the Bible.

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15:37

Pigs on the Wing

Animal Magic ·

2025/12/02

On December 3rd, 1976, a 30-foot pig flew over England, disrupting air traffic and scaring the manure out of a rancher's cattle. In this special anniversary episode, we'll share the timeless tale of the photo-shoot for the Pink Floyd Animals album cover. And we'll consider what it may have to do with Orwell's novel Animal Farm, and whether that book still has anything to teach us in America today.

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13:50

A Big Black Cloud Over Ohio (A Haunted Road-Trip to...

Animal Magic ·

2025/11/10

The absolutely true story of a journey to witness Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in concert, with some silly and supernatural surprises. This doesn't contain any music samples, but refers to "Jubilee Street" (I recommend the Copenhagen live version), "Tupelo," "Wild God," "Conversion" and "Into My Arms."

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15:44

Circe in the Odyssey (Halloween Special)

Animal Magic ·

2025/10/16

In this "Season of the Witch" we'll be looking at the ancient myth of Circe, the Sorceress in The Odyssey. This Enchantress is dangerous (especially to chauvinist pigs) but also a savior who instructs Odysseus and his men about how to face the perils ahead. Times of terror can be times of transformation, sometimes for the better.

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18:59

The Sirens' Song

Animal Magic ·

2025/09/29

A Heart concert got me thinking about Odysseus and the Sirens. And I wondered - what might the Sirens be saying if they were singing today? (A Band Called Heart 0:00-3:00 / The Odyssey 3:00-11:00 / The Sirens Today? 11:00-13:30 / The Heart Concert 13:30-18:30)

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15:48

Creeps!

Animal Magic ·

2025/09/05

In this Controversial Episode, we'll explore Biblical Bugs, and Creepy-Crawlies of Egyptian, Chinese and Greek Mythology. Plus some personal recollections of that time I got stranded in the middle of the great Cincinnati Cicada Awakening of 1987.

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15:13

The Raven, the Fox, and the Rich Fool

Animal Magic ·

2025/08/18

How is a Raven like a Role-Model? In stories Jesus told, rich men come to bad ends, and apparently the fox and the raven know something we don't know about the divine plan. Regardless of heaven and hell, what might these parables tell us about life on earth?

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13:50

The Fluid Edge

Animal Magic ·

2025/07/17

All life on Earth is linked by water – every human, plant, and animal in the past, present, and future. That's a lot to think about when someone pees in the pool. Water is life, water can be death, and it shows up in the strangest places...

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18:02

Power

Animal Magic ·

2025/07/06

Bacteria, billionaires and blockbuster action stars of the 80s – all are forms of power. In this episode, we await the most powerful being of all, the electrician, whose 5-minute appointment can eat an entire day from 8 to 4. But it gives plenty of time to wonder: what is "power?"

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17:39

The Trojan War and Euripides' Helen (Sample Chapters...

Animal Magic ·

2025/06/18

I wrote a little book, Welcome to Tragedy: A Beginner's Guide to Greek Drama, with brief introductions to all of the surviving scripts by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides (plus three comedies by Aristophanes). I was fascinated by the variety of Greek drama, ranging beyond familiar definitions of "Tragedy." One script that really sticks out is Euripides' Helen, a wacky swashbuckling adventure story. So that chapter is here (starting at about the 8 minute mark), after a basic introduction to the

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40 results

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